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Archer Masonwells makes the most of rap

Bonny Symons-Brown

Australian archer Mathew Masonwells used the tunes of hip-hop group the Hilltop Hoods to help stay focused and shoot into the top 10 as competition began at the Commonwealth Games.

All archery competitors took part in an initial ranking round of 72 arrows at the Yamuna Sports Complex in east Delhi on Monday.

The men's and women's traditional recurve bow events were first up.

Masonwells, 24, was Australia's best male recurve performer, scoring 655 out of a possible 720 to put himself in ninth place.

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Three-time Olympian Matthew Gray, 37, got off to a good start but said he "fell asleep" later, ending the day ranked 12th out of the field of 38, while 19-year-old student Taylor Worth rounded out the trio in 14th.

The scores are enough to rank the Australian men fifth out of 11 teams.

Masonwells, in the midst of his biggest year on the elite archery scene, said he was fairly pleased with the result.

"It was pretty good but there was a few nuffy shots in there," he told AAP.

"Hopefully I can come tomorrow and do better."

Originally from Queensland but now living in the ACT, Masonwells took up the sport as a 13-year-old, when his father made him a timber bow to take to a medieval fair and he couldn't resist continuing to use it at his grandparents farm.

While nerves get the better of far more experienced archers, he stays focused with the help of noise-cancelling headphones and some good music.

"Every now again I'll come back (between arrows) and pop them on just to zone out, so it's just my memory, music and that's it," he said.

"Listening to a bit of Hilltop Hoods, one of the favourites, an Aussie band."

Meanwhile, dual Olympian Deonne Bridger led the women's charge with her score of 637, putting her in fourth place individually.

The 21-year-old Lexie Feeney was eighth, while Dawn Nelson was 18th.

Together, they were the third ranked women's recurve team out of six.

Bridger said she fired off a couple of stay arrows but wasn't too concerned.

"I always get a bit nervous, it doesn't matter what event it is," she said.